Ashes 2023: England's Emma Lamb says Australia are 'human' and 'not perfect'

Emma Lamb was taking portion successful a Chance To Shine schools lawsuit successful Burnley

All-rounder Emma Lamb says playing alongside Australian players successful planetary leagues has shown England the satellite champions are "not perfect".

Australia volition support the Ashes they person held since 2015 successful a multi-format bid this summer.

"They are humans. It is wrong our scope to bushed them. We conscionable person to bash everything well," Lamb told BBC Sport.

Meg Lanning's Australians person won 3 of the past 4 Ashes series, with 1 draw. Earlier this twelvemonth they won their 3rd successive T20 World Cup pursuing a 2022 erstwhile they took the 50-over satellite rubric and Commonwealth Games gold.

Lamb, 25, added: "They are an unthinkable squad who person achieved a batch successful the past 2 years. They person a batch of talented players.

"Coming disconnected the Women's Premier League and immoderate of the girls playing with them, we've travel to the decision they are not perfect. We decidedly person a accidental of competing with them."

England person been preparing for the Ashes with a three-day team-bonding travel successful the Lake District.

The men's mentation of the Ashes begins connected 16 June with the archetypal of 5 Tests, portion the women's competition, comprising a Test, 3 one-day internationals and 3 T20s, starts connected 22 June.

Four points are connected connection for winning the Test and 2 each for triumph successful a white-ball match.

For the archetypal clip successful the UK, the women's Test is taking spot implicit 5 days, expanding the accidental of a effect and truthful the likelihood 1 of the teams volition unfastened up a large lead.

"It volition make a batch of pressure," said Lamb. "One squad tin spell acold up and different could beryllium playing catch-up.

"It's incredibly important. To get disconnected to a bully commencement gives truly bully momentum for the remainder of the series."

Lamb made her Test debut successful the gully against South Africa past summer, making 38 opening the batting.

Targeting the opening spot erstwhile more, she is hoping to play successful her archetypal location Ashes series, having played 1 ODI successful the decision successful Australia past year.

Lamb, who plays her home cricket for Thunder and Manchester Originals, is the sister of Lancashire all-rounder Danny.

Her travel towards playing an Ashes Test connected location ungraded comes aft she was denied the accidental to play for the boys' squad astatine her schoolhouse successful Preston and faced hostility successful men's nine cricket.

"I've had immoderate atrocious experiences," said Lamb. "There was erstwhile an older antheral who wrote a missive saying a pistillate shouldn't beryllium playing men's second-team cricket, which was rubbish. In the adjacent crippled I got rather a large people and proved him wrong.

"I didn't get the accidental to play astatine school. My mum told maine rather precocious they wouldn't fto maine play successful the boys' squad - I didn't cognize astatine the time. That's rather sad.

"It's present decidedly changed. My relative goes to the schoolhouse I went to and she plays successful the boy's team."

Lamb was speaking astatine a Chance to Shine schools lawsuit astatine St Mary's Primary successful Burnley, the erstwhile schoolhouse of James Anderson.

Through partnerships with Chance to Shine and the Lord's Taverners, the England and Wales Cricket Board is investing much than £4m this twelvemonth to instrumentality cricket to astir 7,500 superior schools and 700,000 children.

For the archetypal time, a targeted programme volition scope 55,000 children from under-served communities, and those attending peculiar acquisition needs and disability schools.

"It's truly breathtaking due to the fact that I don't consciousness similar I had loads of opportunities erstwhile I was younger," she said.

"For me, playing cricket is besides a societal thing. It gives you skills similar being portion of a squad and learning however to communicate.

"Making definite we're giving children an accidental present is truly important."